Argentina defeats Peru to win a spot in U20 Pan Am Semifinals

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, May 11, 2017.- Argentina defeated Peru 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-19) in quarterfinals to win a spot in the U20 Women’s Pan American Cup semifinals at San Jose, Costa Rica.

Argentineans kicked off sets one and two with comfortable advantage and exceptional defense making it difficult for Peru to overcome. In set three, Argentina recovered from a four point deficit working hard forcing Peruvian players to commit consecutive errors.

Argentina will have to wait for the result of the quarterfinal match between Uruguay and United States to qualify to the FIVB World Championship.

Argentina finished with a huge 41-27 margin in attacks and 9-5 blocking margin. Both teams scored on 4 aces. Argentina benefited from 21 Peruvian errors and committed 17.

Opposite Anahi Tosi and Benisse Soria led Argentina with 16 and 11 points respectively. Katherine Regalado and Leslie Leyva scored 8 points apiece for Peru.

Guillermo Caceres, Argentina’s Head Coach: “This was the match we needed to win. It was expected de Peru pushed stronger in set three but luckily we were able to recover. I am very proud of this group of players, they performed very well and I’m satisfied of their consistency. We have a lot of people involved to thank besides the players”.

Azul Benitez, Argentina’s captain: “I am very excited; it was a crucial match to win and to keep our world championship dream alive, honestly we can’t believe we are one step away of making it happen. Peru is a splendid team and we knew how to keep actions under control”.

Marco Queiroga, Peru’s Head Coach: “It’s hard to believe that Peru won’t be in the world championship. Our expectations were very good, both teams had the same pressure but Argentina was the team that controlled it better. In the third set, we held advantage because Argentina played more relaxed”.